I don’t remember what year your Airstream is, or if you bought new or used, but is it possible a prior owner switched from rivets to screws? What an odd change for the factory to make…
We bought it used during the pandemic. Talking with other AS owners, apparently it is common practice to use both rivets and screws to secure the lower belt line during manufacturing.
Leaks are hard to find. That’s the best way. A if you can find it with a hose that’s great. I had a roof leak and we took it to Winnebago Factory in Forest City, Iowa and took it thru the rain room they test the motorhomes in. We found it right away. Easy fix once found.
Phenomenal video guys!! I’ve owned an Airstream. Their build process just screams water infiltration. I’ve found that Oliver and Escape were just a couple of options for me that reduced areas of water penetration.
Thanks for watching and your comments. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts and experiences. Hopefully we have eliminated all our leaks. Happy camping and safe travels.
I was told by a former AS technician that it is common for AS to use both screws and rivets to secure the lower beltline. Especially on the covered areas.
Well I can’t say for sure that every Airstream is going to leak, but the odds are more likely than not. That said, just like a home an Airstream takes regular inspections and maintenance to keep it in good shape for many years of use.
Excellent problem solving skills! I'm not sure if it's significant but water was noticeable at 13:09 when you pulled the trim away. Your hose technique is similar to what the factory does at Jackson Center on all new trailers to test for leaks.
Hey Guys, thanks for following along on our Airstream repair journey. It has been a great learning experience and the entire Airstream community has been awesome in providing encouragement as well as repair tips and advice. Someday we plan to make a trip to Jackson Center and hope to go on their factory tour.
Thanks for this video series, it's very informative. We just took our '22 Classic 33 to Jackson Center for warranty work in October. I'm a bit surprised that sealant does not last longer. We enjoy your videos!
Yay! So happy for you guys that you're figuring out this issue. The water hose testing method was very smart. My wife and I sold our house and have been full-timers in our 1971 Airstream Sovereign for 7 years. Maintenance is always ongoing just like it is with a brick and mortar home.
Well done guys, there is nothing worse then a leak. We had a massive leak in our motorhome and it rotted a lot of our wood in the storage. That was a very smart way to check where your leak is. Well done. We are looking forward to watching more from you. Your new friends Chelsea and Mike 🏴 Liked and subbed 😊
Hey Guys…thanks for watching and the sub. We appreciate your support to the channel. We will provide another update this Sunday as we continue with the repairs. Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels.
Thanks for sharing the journey! Looks like excellent progress is being made and hopefully, we'll see you down the road... Maybe the Christmas Luncheon?
Hey Mike…thanks for following along. We’ve got a few repair parts on order, but so far everything is going about as well as could be expected. We’ll look at the calendar and see if we can make the Christmas Luncheon. Safe travels.
So I believe there were multiple water leaks along the lower belt line. To be safe we are removing all of the belt line and then we will remove the old sealant and reseal any seams and test it again with the hose before reinstalling any of the furniture and flooring.
Glad to see real progress on this & very instructive. Definitely going to inspect ours closely. Thoughts on the belt line around the rest of unit? Do you believe some of the lower beltline is more fragile? At the edges? Will you next take the hose to the front? When you took the screws out & drilled out the rivets, there was a splash of water visible when you removed it by the door. As if it pooled there. Still impressed with the amount of water that came in. Early detection would be helpful, so I’m going to strategically place some sensors to periodically look at. BTW, I hate that decorative tape that has a simple adhesive. I’ve replace all the way around once & have a small section to do again. The heat in TX is hard on it.
Based on what we’ve seen along the lower belt line (back end) I plan to remove the lower belt line at the front end as well. I’m not confident the front end belt line and c channel would be much better, however we have not noticed any soft spots at the front end. Just need the weather to cooperate and little “extra motivation” to tackle this project 🙂
I would imagine they prefer screws when there’s a backing to secure to and rivets when there is no backing. From looking at the sealant line, I would bet that water got behind the belt and followed the sealant line to a rivet that wasn’t water tight (which i wouldn’t really expect them to be). Needs better sealant coverage behind the belt.
That is very smart. Wish we would have known to inspect those areas earlier. Perhaps we could have found this leak sooner and prevented some of the damage.
The weather and ordering repair parts has slowed us down more than I expected, but we will post another update video next week. Thanks for watching and safe travels.
I don’t remember what year your Airstream is, or if you bought new or used, but is it possible a prior owner switched from rivets to screws? What an odd change for the factory to make…
Our AS is a 2017. We purchased it used from another couple. Not sure about the rivets vs screws, but it did seem odd to me.
Did you buy the airstream new? If not maybe who ever had it before you had an issue and repaired it with screws
We bought it used during the pandemic. Talking with other AS owners, apparently it is common practice to use both rivets and screws to secure the lower belt line during manufacturing.
Leaks are hard to find. That’s the best way. A if you can find it with a hose that’s great. I had a roof leak and we took it to Winnebago Factory in Forest City, Iowa and took it thru the rain room they test the motorhomes in. We found it right away. Easy fix once found.
Leaks can be very elusive and frustrating. We are pretty confident that we located it finally.
Phenomenal video guys!! I’ve owned an Airstream. Their build process just screams water infiltration. I’ve found that Oliver and Escape were just a couple of options for me that reduced areas of water penetration.
Thanks for watching and your comments. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts and experiences. Hopefully we have eliminated all our leaks. Happy camping and safe travels.
When I replaced my beltline trim 2 years ago, I also noticed that the beltline was secured by mostly screws. It doesn't make sense to me either.
I was told by a former AS technician that it is common for AS to use both screws and rivets to secure the lower beltline. Especially on the covered areas.
Do all Airstreams leak after a few years? Glad you found the leak, hopefully that’s the only leak and you can get it back together.
Well I can’t say for sure that every Airstream is going to leak, but the odds are more likely than not. That said, just like a home an Airstream takes regular inspections and maintenance to keep it in good shape for many years of use.
Excellent problem solving skills! I'm not sure if it's significant but water was noticeable at 13:09 when you pulled the trim away. Your hose technique is similar to what the factory does at Jackson Center on all new trailers to test for leaks.
Hey Guys, thanks for following along on our Airstream repair journey. It has been a great learning experience and the entire Airstream community has been awesome in providing encouragement as well as repair tips and advice. Someday we plan to make a trip to Jackson Center and hope to go on their factory tour.
Can you tell me where the Jackson is?@@thewrightlife
I assume you are asking about Jackson Center Ohio? That is the Airstream headquarters.
Maybe it was worked on previously
I guess that is always a possibility. Thanks for watching and safe travels.
Thanks for this video series, it's very informative. We just took our '22 Classic 33 to Jackson Center for warranty work in October. I'm a bit surprised that sealant does not last longer. We enjoy your videos!
Glad to hear the videos have been helpful. Thanks for watching and Happy Thanksgiving.
Same to you, thanks!
Yay! So happy for you guys that you're figuring out this issue. The water hose testing method was very smart. My wife and I sold our house and have been full-timers in our 1971 Airstream Sovereign for 7 years. Maintenance is always ongoing just like it is with a brick and mortar home.
We’ve been given a lot of great advice and tips over the past several weeks. The garden hose is one that really paid off this week. Safe travels.
Your patience level is impressive.
LoL…I like to think that my patience has improved since I retired. Don’t sweat the small stuff :)
What year of your airstream?
2017 27’ FB International
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching.
Well done guys, there is nothing worse then a leak. We had a massive leak in our motorhome and it rotted a lot of our wood in the storage. That was a very smart way to check where your leak is. Well done.
We are looking forward to watching more from you.
Your new friends Chelsea and Mike 🏴
Liked and subbed 😊
Hey Guys…thanks for watching and the sub. We appreciate your support to the channel. We will provide another update this Sunday as we continue with the repairs. Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels.
Thanks for sharing the journey! Looks like excellent progress is being made and hopefully, we'll see you down the road... Maybe the Christmas Luncheon?
Hey Mike…thanks for following along. We’ve got a few repair parts on order, but so far everything is going about as well as could be expected. We’ll look at the calendar and see if we can make the Christmas Luncheon. Safe travels.
Great job on locating the problem! What year is your Airstream? I know they had some production issues during COVID.
Our AS is a 2017 so it was a pre-COVID production.
Interestingly, the leak was on the roadside and the floor was damaged on the curbside. Amazing that you found the leak so quickly.
So I believe there were multiple water leaks along the lower belt line. To be safe we are removing all of the belt line and then we will remove the old sealant and reseal any seams and test it again with the hose before reinstalling any of the furniture and flooring.
Glad to see real progress on this & very instructive. Definitely going to inspect ours closely. Thoughts on the belt line around the rest of unit? Do you believe some of the lower beltline is more fragile? At the edges? Will you next take the hose to the front? When you took the screws out & drilled out the rivets, there was a splash of water visible when you removed it by the door. As if it pooled there. Still impressed with the amount of water that came in. Early detection would be helpful, so I’m going to strategically place some sensors to periodically look at. BTW, I hate that decorative tape that has a simple adhesive. I’ve replace all the way around once & have a small section to do again. The heat in TX is hard on it.
Based on what we’ve seen along the lower belt line (back end) I plan to remove the lower belt line at the front end as well. I’m not confident the front end belt line and c channel would be much better, however we have not noticed any soft spots at the front end. Just need the weather to cooperate and little “extra motivation” to tackle this project 🙂
Wow Rick! Great video illustrating this ongoing leak situation! We have very similar issues that we discovered today...see ya soon!
Oh…I hope it’s nothing too serious. Looking forward to seeing you guys.
I would imagine they prefer screws when there’s a backing to secure to and rivets when there is no backing. From looking at the sealant line, I would bet that water got behind the belt and followed the sealant line to a rivet that wasn’t water tight (which i wouldn’t really expect them to be). Needs better sealant coverage behind the belt.
100% agree. Once we remove all the old sealant we are going to completely reseal the lower belt line and all the rivets and screws.
Glad you're on the way to getting this taken care of. Now I'll be checking my rubrail line real close for cracks in the sealant.
That is very smart. Wish we would have known to inspect those areas earlier. Perhaps we could have found this leak sooner and prevented some of the damage.
Hi you two! Glad the mystery is solved. Good teamwork. 👍
Thank you 🙂 It was a longtime coming. Have a Happy Thanksgiving 🦃 and Safe Travels.
@@thewrightlife Happy Thanksgiving to you too! 🦃
Bingo! Love the progress. Look fwd to the next video
That was quick
The weather and ordering repair parts has slowed us down more than I expected, but we will post another update video next week. Thanks for watching and safe travels.